On November 1st, the Sino-Russian border was already covered in snow. Several pontoon bridges had been erected on the broad and calm river surface. Standing on the high ground by the river, Zheng Silang, who had changed back into his military uniform, rode a warhorse and watched the troops advancing north across the river through these pontoon bridges linked by thick iron chains.

The vast land on the Chinese border was covered in snow, and the Russian border opposite was equally clad in silver. Without this river, one couldn't tell any difference between the two sides. But crossing this river meant a brand-new era; the Chinese army set foot on foreign soil again.

In the military academy, Zheng Silang had also sung "Man Jiang Hong" loudly with his classmates and was moved to tears by it. When actually commanding thousands of troops to cross the border, the feeling was very different from the impassioned and hot-blooded imagination back then.

The work experience as a military representative allowed Zheng Silang to personally experience another life and another way of thinking. The party class had explained imperialism in detail; this system, which caused huge harm and painful memories to China, was not deliberately designed by someone, but an inevitable result of the development of industrialized nations.

If China had completed the industrial revolution first, then China would definitely be the most powerful imperialist country in the world now. The production capacity of industrialized nations is theoretically infinite. To solve the contradiction between relative overcapacity and relative lack of market, and to maintain high profits, exporting goods outward and importing cheap raw materials inward is the most normal choice. This is only about interests, not about good or evil.

In the struggle against colonialists and imperialists, the vast number of people in the invaded world, who originally did not have the concept of nationalism, gave birth to nationalism against foreign invaders.

Therefore, the Civilization Party recognized the inevitability of nationalism and its positive role in resisting foreign invasion. Before dispatching troops this time, He Rui emphasized that all current actions of the Northeast Government were not a nationalist revenge operation, nor would they engage in expansionism according to the logic of imperialism. This action was just an attempt to prevent a humanitarian disaster, just like when someone in a neighbor's house is starving to death, sharing a bite of food with them is the bottom line as a human being.

As for whether the neighbor works hard to change their life after eating this bowl of rice, or picks up the kitchen knife at home and becomes an enemy starting to rob, that is the neighbor's choice.

The wealth of the Northeast people was gathered through taxation to build the Northeast Army, precisely to deal with enemy attacks. At this time, a burst of singing came from the art troupe boosting the morale of the troops: "...Good mountains, good water, good place, every road is wide and smooth. When friends come, there is good wine; if that jackal comes, there is a shotgun to greet it..."

The soldiers already liked this song, and at this time they couldn't help singing along with the art troupe. The singing was loud and clear, resounding on both sides of the border. Zheng Silang also liked this song very much; hearing it at this time, he felt as if it was a response to his own thoughts.

Just then, hoofbeats sounded, and Hu Xiushan, the Chief of Staff of this operation, rode his horse to Zheng Silang's side. Reining in his horse, Hu Xiushan looked at the marching column and said, "Silang, let's set off."

Zheng Silang felt a pang of conflict in his heart. He had this feeling when he changed the combat plan without authorization, and it was just as strong. Amidst such conflict, Zheng Silang closed his eyes and slapped his cheeks with both hands.

The crisp sound made Hu Xiushan look at Zheng Silang, his eyes full of surprise. Zheng Silang felt the burning sting on his cheeks and finally broke free from the impulse brought by inner conflict. He turned his head and said, "Set off now!"

Hu Xiushan didn't say much and urged his horse down the slope. Zheng Silang's horsemanship was much better than Hu Xiushan's; the horse walked steadily and fast, easily surpassing Hu Xiushan. Crossing steadily on the pontoon bridge dedicated to cavalry, he entered Russian territory.

Less than 600 kilometers north of Zheng Silang and Hu Xiushan, teams of Russians were advancing south against the wind and snow. Without exception, they wore thick clothes, trudging forward in the sub-zero blizzard.

The tattered cotton coats of ordinary people, the mink coats of the rich, the vestments of Orthodox bishops, the robes of ascetics. If it were before, people of different backgrounds would never have walked together.

But on the road now, these poor and rich merged into a long dragon fleeing the Bolshevik Red regime, not caring about the background of the people around them. The long line walked silently on the seemingly endless ice field; apart from hunger, cold, and fear, they all walked within the range covered by the railway.

Kolchak was a famous Russian Arctic explorer; such a natural environment was just a small scene for Kolchak. If possible, Kolchak would even be willing to walk with these people. But he couldn't.

The train carried all the supplies that could be scrounged, and must provide fire and food for these people at rest points along the way. After rushing to Lake Baikal on October 20, Kolchak ordered everyone to go south. At that time, watching the mountains of materials being loaded onto the train, Kolchak still felt there were no problems.

But now, 10 days later, Kolchak realized he was wrong. The few remaining radio stations in the team sent news of food shortages. Even for the few trains Kolchak personally commanded, the consumption of food exceeded his imagination.

From the time of departure, Kolchak ordered that everyone on the train could only eat one meal a day, and the amount of food was reduced to the minimum. In the last two days, Kolchak ordered the execution of army personnel who stole food twice, but this could not stop the train carriages from becoming empty.

Kolchak couldn't help but waver in his initial decision: was rejecting the help provided by the Chinese side the correct choice?

Before departure, Kolchak had ordered to take away all food that could be taken. Because the soldiers scrounged so thoroughly from house to house, it triggered riots among the local Russian people unwilling to leave, drawing a bloody beginning for this expedition. If he went back now, the only thing to eat would be those people who had nothing left. For Kolchak, cannibalism was a bottom line that could not be crossed.

Just then, Chief of Staff Zyuganov ran over, his face full of joy, an expression never seen in the past half-year. "Your Excellency, the British Foreign Office sent a telegram saying the Chinese are coming to meet us with supplies. I communicated with the Chinese by telegram, and they also confirmed this news."

Kolchak was skeptical, but the guards around him couldn't help cheering. These people who didn't need to consider high-level decisions knew very clearly that if this continued, running out of food completely would happen within a day or two. At that time, people would freeze and starve to death.

At this time, a team of Russians happened to pass by here, led by an Orthodox bishop. Seeing Kolchak's military flag, this group bowed to Kolchak from afar. The bishop walked over, seemingly wanting to greet Kolchak personally.

Those joyous guards rushed up and shouted to the bishop, "Bishop, the aid sent by the British is arriving! Everyone is saved!"

The bishop was stunned, quickly brought three fingers together, and crossed himself. Then he turned back to the team and shouted loudly to the crowd, "Blessings from the Holy Mother and the Holy Son, our aid is coming. Everyone doesn't need to starve anymore!"

The crowd, originally like numb livestock, all stopped after the bishop's shout. A moment later, everyone knelt on the ground, crossing themselves while looking up at the sky, chanting praises, "Thank you, Virgin Mary!", "Thank you, merciful Lord."

Kolchak hadn't expected things to turn out like this; it was too late to stop it. For a moment, the eyes of this old Tsarist Russian Admiral, who had a rugged appearance and was considered to have a heart of stone, also became somewhat moist.

But the sympathy for these fellow White Guard civilians quickly dissipated, and Kolchak returned to his usual coldness.

The remaining gold was the capital for the Russian Provisional Government to make a comeback, and there could be no loss no matter what. Ignoring those kneeling and praising God, Kolchak called the Chief of Staff and returned to the carriage. Once inside, Kolchak immediately ordered, "Chief of Staff Zyuganov, organize the troops to go south immediately to prevent a surprise attack by the Chinese army. And Deputy Chief of Staff Nikolaev, you are responsible for strengthening the guard of the gold carriage; the Chinese must never be allowed to seize our gold!"

Although 500,000 White Guards chose to follow Kolchak, they were an army defeated in a series of battles and no longer had a clear organization. Moreover, after experiencing such a march in snowy weather, they no longer had any combat effectiveness. Only a few core troops could be relied upon.

The Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff accepted the order immediately, but obviously without the killing intent they had when accepting orders before.

Of course, over a million people couldn't form a single line; instead, they were divided into thousands of disjointed groups. Contrary to Kolchak's expectation, the transmission of news between groups was exceptionally fast.

The next day, some news had already come. Originally, the crowd going south would rest for a long time at rest points, but some groups, having just rested, quickly ate meager food and started south. The troops responsible for the rest points instead got the news that someone was meeting them in the south from these rapidly moving groups.

On the third day, the news spread at an astonishing speed. Horses kept galloping toward Kolchak's train center, which was moving according to plan, asking if the news of being met was true.

Of this team of over a million people, 500,000 were soldiers. When a horse, for the nth time unknown, collapsed directly to the ground after the cavalryman jumped off its back, Chief of Staff Zyuganov's face was already covered with unease. Deputy Chief of Staff Nikolaev voiced their shared worry: "Your Excellency, if this continues, I'm afraid it will trigger a mutiny in the troops!"

The Russian army had rich experience with mutinies and had also formulated cruel disciplines and punishments to nip the signs of mutiny in the bud. But now departments like the Military Law Division no longer existed; Kolchak's subordinates were just a mob gathered to flee.

Kolchak knew what the two Chiefs of Staff were worried about. Precisely because there was no hope, the White Guards were so obedient, but any hope could turn this obedience into chaos.

Under the anxious and fearful gazes of the two Chiefs of Staff, Kolchak stood up abruptly. "Tell all troops who come to inquire that the reception is ahead. I will personally lead the troops to meet the reception!"

"...Your Excellency is going personally?" the Chief of Staff exclaimed.

Kolchak shook his head. "Not going forward; I am going to the very front team to be the first to meet the Chinese army!"

The Chief of Staff was shocked speechless by Kolchak's courage, but the Deputy Chief of Staff raised his hand to cover his eyes, preventing people from seeing the tears rolling out. Deputy Chief of Staff Nikolaev chose to follow because of Kolchak's personal charm, but he hadn't expected that at such a time, Kolchak's courage was as fearless as rumored.

The Chinese army might come under the pretext of rescue, but once they saw Kolchak, they might very well arrest him. But the Deputy Chief of Staff knew very well that if Kolchak remained in the central army, the White Guards driven by hope and strong anxiety would immediately fall into internal chaos, and a mutiny would be only a matter of time. Only if Kolchak confirmed safety at the very front could these White Guards who chose to follow Kolchak feel at ease.

Kolchak didn't just talk; he immediately began to equip himself. This famous Russian Arctic expedition expert prepared equipment for rapid marching in the snow. More than ten years ago, he relied on his outstanding ability to move on ice and snow to find the distressed Russian Arctic expedition team and brought back their expedition records, becoming famous in Russia since then.

More than ten years later, these skills came in handy again. First riding horses, until the horses couldn't hold on. The sleepless Kolchak led the exhausted guards to start skiing forward.

Winter in the north gets dark early, and the snow had stopped at this time. Relying on a compass and the starry sky, Kolchak continued forward based on his intuition.

Fewer and fewer people in the guard around him could keep up, but Kolchak didn't stop. Because when he and the guards walked into rest points where fires were burning but there was no food, carrying a chill, a large number of people would recognize him.

The living people by the fires in those rest points mixed with those frozen and starved to death, making the dead look as if they were just asleep.

The only way to distinguish who was still alive was whether they saluted Kolchak, or upon hearing Kolchak's goal of going to meet the reception team, stepped forward to kneel and kiss the back of Kolchak's hand or even his boots.

These people had reached their limit. If they had proceeded at the originally arranged speed, they could still have survived. But knowing hope was ahead, their efforts to advance to get rid of the threat of death as soon as possible led to their deaths instead. So Kolchak just warmed himself by the fire, ate a little, and continued to set off.

If the hope ahead was an illusory bubble, at least half of the over a million people stirred by hope would die unnatural deaths.

By the fifth day, there were no rest points ahead. Only three guard members remained by Kolchak's side. These people moved slowly, their eyes dull. Compared with the living, these people looked more like walking corpses. Until Kolchak stopped and blocked them. The three guard members barely stopped. One of them was unstable and fell to the ground. The two companions just looked at this dully, using all their strength to steady themselves so they wouldn't fall too.

Kolchak picked up his binoculars and saw a unit at the end of the snowfield ahead, led by a red flag. The team holding the flag high was advancing. Behind this large red flag, there were some small flags. Unlike the impact and tension this red flag brought to Kolchak, when the Union Jack and the French Tricolor, especially an old Russian Empire flag, came into view in the binoculars, Kolchak put down the binoculars and raised the back of his hand to wipe his eyes.

For so long, except for the moment of parting with his lover, Kolchak hadn't had wet eyes for many years.

The large red flag was the flag of the Northeast Army. Those carrying the British and French flags were British and French journalists accompanying the army, and those carrying the old Russian Empire flag were the group of White Russian expatriates who had always been in Harbin. This group had been sent to concentration camps and then continued to live in Northeast China under semi-custody.

Now that the White Russians were in decline, this group was finally released from custody. Some joined the action to stop the humanitarian tragedy. These people had basically no dealings with the Bolshevik government and knew very little about the Russian Provisional Government. But these people insisted on coming to save their Russian compatriots and insisted on raising the old Russian Empire flag.

After discussing with Hu Xiushan, Zheng Silang could only let the troops pretend not to see it. After all, this action was a political one; if controlled too strictly, it would be unnecessary.

These people were put at the very front of the troops to ensure propaganda effect. If the White Russian army took the initiative to attack the Northeast Army, these guys could serve as eyewitnesses.

Although Zheng Silang still felt disappointed from time to time because of his nationalist sentiments that this action was not to recover old territories, it didn't delay Zheng Silang from making various proper arrangements for this action.

It wasn't until the advance troops sent a telegram saying they actually encountered the 'former ruler' of the Russian Provisional Government, Kolchak, that Zheng Silang couldn't help showing an admiring expression. "The report said Kolchak has guts. It seems the report is very reliable."

Hu Xiushan didn't like to talk much, just nodding at this time. "Kolchak made a very correct choice."

Zheng Silang looked at Hu Xiushan with some surprise. "Xiushan, it's rare for you to praise someone like this!"

Hu Xiushan looked at Zheng Silang somewhat puzzled. "This is content that should be written into the report."

Zheng Silang was stunned and couldn't help laughing out loud. This guy Hu Xiushan did things so seriously and meticulously; in this regard, Zheng Silang really couldn't catch up even with a horse.

But these were not the most important things at the moment. Zheng Silang ordered the staff officer, "According to the plan, start setting up rest points. As for the level... Xiushan, I think set it to intermediate level?"

Hu Xiushan didn't answer. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then took out the map and looked at it for a while before answering, "Set it according to the worst-case scenario."

"Worst-case scenario? Doesn't that mean this group of people are all about to starve to death?" Zheng Silang felt things probably hadn't reached this extent.

Hu Xiushan pointed at the map and said, "Our plan already underestimated Kolchak, so we thought this position should be the meeting position where the White Russian situation is relatively good and action is relatively fast. But Kolchak appeared at this position with three subordinates who are about to die of exhaustion. It can only mean they have reached a desperate situation."

Zheng Silang understood Hu Xiushan's judgment as soon as he heard it and immediately ordered, "Set according to the worst-case scenario, let those people at the very front move quickly, and hurry up to provide material supplies!"

When the staff officers began to act, Zheng Silang looked at Hu Xiushan, full of admiration in his heart. Although the current Chief of Staff in the army was Cheng Ruofan, many people thought Hu Xiushan might be more suitable for this position.